by Reese Erlich
Free Syrian Army (FSA), 93–94, 97, 120, 183, 184, 187, 214, 254
Ahrar Syria as an FSA brigade, 17–18
attacks by, 91, 94, 117, 154, 195, 251, 252, 253
defectors from Assad's army forming, 90, 93, 251
excluded from Islamic Front, 239, 254
and Israel, 196, 198
and Supreme Military Council, 94, 114, 241, 252
trying to seem pious to gain Arab funding, 16–17
French Mandate (1920–1946). See France
Friedman, Lara, 201–202
Friedman, Tom, 224
Friends for a NonViolent World, 227
FSA. See Free Syrian Army
Fukushima disaster, 162
Future Movement, 137–38, 181–82
Gaza Strip, 29, 72, 203, 209, 210–11, 241, 243
author's report from, 204, 207–209
Israel seizing, 62, 192, 247
General Syrian Congress, 37, 44, 47, 245
Geneva II peace talks, 185, 254
Georges-Picot, François, 31–33
Ghassan, Haj, 116
Gladstone, Rick, 102
Global Post (newspaper), 141, 187
Global South summit, 14
“God is sovereign” (slogan for Islamic Front), 97
Golan, 66, 248, 255
author's drive through, 192–96
efforts to return Golan to Syria, 18, 63, 66, 72, 174–75, 194, 202–204, 228, 248
Israel seizing, 12, 18, 53, 62–63, 66, 192, 193, 195, 202, 247, 248
Syria recapturing some of, 63, 193, 248
Golts, Alexander, 229
Goodarzi, Jubin, 146
Gordon, Philip, 189
Gouraud, Henri, 48, 49–50
Great Britain. See Britain
Greek Orthodox Church, 211
Green Movement (Iran), 145, 156
Guinness, Alec, 25
Gulf War, Syrian participating, 65, 71, 149, 228, 248
Haaretz (newspaper), 202, 204
Hafez, Amin al-, 247
Hagel, Chuck, 201
Hagop, 132–33, 134–35
Halliburton (company), 218
Halqi, Wael Nader al-, 253
Hama, Syria, 53, 83–84, 96–97, 181, 250–51, 255
Muslim Brotherhood rebellion in 1982, 70–71, 248
Hamad, 73
Hamad, Ghazi, 210
Hamas, 149, 150, 209–210, 211, 241, 243
author's interviews with, 208–209, 210
Hamish Hospital, 109
Hana, Amira, 136
Hanna, Atallah, 211
Hanos, Mohammed Khaled, 84
Harash, Abdul Salaam al-, 135
Harasta, Syria, 254
Harasta Air Base, 91, 251
Hariri, Rafic, 75–76, 249
Hariri, Saad, 137–38
Hasakah, Syria, 186
Hashemi, Nader, 224–25
Hashemite family, 25–26, 27, 42, 43. See also Abdullah I; Faisal
Hassino, Mahmoud, 86–89
Hassoun, Sariya, 90
Hatay Province, 31, 49–50, 174
Hauser, Zvi, 204
Hedjaz, kingdom of, 43, 47. See also Syria
Heller, Mark, 197–98, 203
Helleu, Jean, 57
Hersh, Seymour, 103–104, 108–109
Herzegovina (Yugoslavia), 1875 rebellion, 25
Hezbollah, 68–69, 148, 151, 153, 157
accused of bombing US barracks, Beirut (1983), 69, 148
Hamas breaking with, 210
and Iran, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 154, 155, 162, 197, 203, 219, 235, 243
and Syria, 76, 116, 138, 143, 145–65, 203, 235, 243, 253, 255
providing arms to Hezbollah, 198–99, 219
violence done by, 69, 76, 116, 148, 154, 253, 255
Higgins, Eliot, 105, 109
Hitler, Adolf, 56
Hizam Arabi [Arab cordon], 171
homosexuality in Syria, 87–89
Homs, Syria, 90, 181, 251, 255
Houla, Syria, 141, 252
Hudson, John, 119
humanitarian intervention, 13–14, 225–26
human-rights record, 215, 216
siege of rebel-controlled areas hurting civilians, 224–25
US advancing business interests over human rights, 217–18, 221
Human Rights Watch, 102, 104, 171, 186
Hussein, Abdullah ibn al-. See Abdullah I
Hussein, Faisal bin. See Faisal
Hussein, Imam, 153
Hussein, Saddam, 66, 71, 78, 147–48, 172, 177, 188
Husseini, Sayed Mohammad, 151–52
Hussein ibn Ali, Sharif, 25–26
Ibrahim, Hozan, 174
Ibrahim, Taleb, 62–63, 79
IDF. See Israel Defense Forces
Idlib Governate in Syria, 96–97, 253
Idris, Salim, 94–95, 96, 113, 118–19
IF. See Islamic Front
“I'm Just Like You” (gay organization in Syria), 87–88
independence, Arab desire for, 44–45, 47, 66, 68
1925 revolt, 51–53
British/French giving lip service to, 25, 26, 56, 245, 246
and Kurds, 167, 168, 169–70, 175, 178, 179, 187
See also Arab Spring
Independent (newspaper), 105
Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria (UN), 107
industrial espionage, 218
Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), 197
Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey. See King, Henry Churchill, and King-Crane Commission
International Criminal Court, 255
International Criminal Tribunal (for former Yugoslavia), 107
International Monetary Fund, 128
IPSOS poll, 113
Iran, 28, 145, 157–58, 160–61
declared to be part of “axis of evil,” 148
economy of
economic ties between Iran and Syria, 149, 155–56
Western sanctions on, 157, 158–61, 163
and Hezbollah, 146, 147, 148, 149, 154, 155, 162, 203, 235
Iranian Revolutions
in 1906, 25
in 1979, 147
Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), 71, 105, 147–48, 160, 248
and Israel, 162, 201
and nuclear energy or nuclear bomb, 157, 201
Iran agreeing to freeze nuclear-enrichment program, 161–62
wanting as source for electric power, 162–63
pro-US and Israel government of the Shah, 157, 191
supporting Assad, 143, 145–65, 172
belief if he loses, Iran is weakened, 149–50, 219
growth in criticisms of Assad, 156–57, 164
proposing a peace plan that kept Assad, 163
US embassy takeover in 1979, 156
See also Revolutionary Guard
Iranian Central Bank, 155
Iranian Constitution, 145
Iran-Iraq-Syria Friendship natural-gas pipeline, 155–56
Iraq
British efforts to control after World War I, 31–32, 55
coup in 1968, 172
invasion of Kuwait in 1990, 71, 248
Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), 71, 105, 160, 248
Iraqi refugees, 78
and Kurds, 177, 178–79, 180
labs to make sarin and mustard gas found, 108
seen as political disaster by Syrian opposition, 18
Shia leaders in supporting Assad, 152
state-owned oil company, 178
Transitional Administrative Law (2004), 177
US invasion of in 2003, 12, 78, 79, 98, 114, 127–28, 148, 220, 221, 224, 249
US Army withdrawal in 2011, 98
Iraqi Baathists, 172
IS. See Islamic State
ISI. See Islamic State of Iraq
ISIS. See Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham
Islam
Lowell Thomas characterizing as a violent, intolerant religion, 41
Muslim Brotherh
ood populist Islamism, 233
as a religion of peace, 91
US equating Islam with extremism and terrorism, 91
“Islamic Awakening,” 150, 151
Islamic Front (IF), 96, 119, 233, 239–40, 254
and Supreme Military Council (SMC), 97, 118–19
Islamic Kurdish Front, 187
Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant. See Ahrar al-Sham
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. See Revolutionary Guard
Islamic State (IS) [new name for Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)], 99–100, 240
Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) [name before it was Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham], 240, 253
Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), 17, 98–100, 187, 233, 239, 240, 253
as al-Qaeda affiliate, 88, 98, 240, 253
changing name to Islamic State (IS), 99–100
and Jabhat al-Nusra, 97, 99
persecuting homosexuals, 88
possible use of sarin gas, 105, 107, 108, 109
previously known as Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), 240, 253
in Raqqa, 117–18, 134, 254
and Supreme Military Council (SMC), 119
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. See Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham
Ismail, Mohammed, 186
isolationism in US, 223
Israel, State of, 69, 196–97, 212
creation of Israel, 44, 59–60
Arab reactions to, 59, 65, 146, 149, 152, 172, 247
Balfour Declaration, 35–36, 43, 245
and Britain, 33–38, 59–60
and Iran, 162, 201
key dates in relations with Arabic countries, 247–48, 249, 253, 254
offering citizenship for Arabs in, 193
and Palestine, 191–212, 248
refusing to ratify Chemical Weapons Convention, 13
seizing Gaza, Golan, and West Bank, 12, 18, 53, 62–63, 66, 192, 193, 195, 202, 247, 248. See also Gaza Strip; Golan; West Bank
expansion of settlements in, 201, 202, 203
and Syria, 12, 84, 85, 191–212, 235
reaction to creation of State of Israel, 59–60
in “Six Day War” with Israel (June 1967), 192
and US
AIPAC and Israel lobby influence on US policy in Syria, 200–202
Israel supporting Vietnam War, 191
wars and invasions
Arab-Israeli war of 1948, 59, 65, 247
attacks on Syria, 198–99
invasions of Lebanon, 67, 68, 148, 149, 199, 248
“Six Day War” (June 1967), 18, 62–63, 65, 66, 191–92, 193, 194, 202, 203, 247
three-week assault on Gaza Strip in 2008, 203
“Yom Kippur War” (1973), 63, 65, 66, 247–48
Israel Defense Forces (IDF), 68, 198–99
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 1991, 248
Issa, Rana, 130–31
Izadi, Foad, 150, 151, 152, 164
Jabhat al-Nusra [The Support Front for the People of the Levant]
as an affiliate of al-Qaeda, 88, 94, 97–98, 105, 108, 239, 240, 251, 254
and chemical weapons, 105, 107–109, 114
and Free Syrian Army, 195–96, 198
and ISI/ISIS, 99, 108, 187
seeing religion as leading role in government, 17, 240
as a terrorist organization, 97, 119, 233, 240, 252
violence done by, 88, 96, 117, 137, 186, 195, 230
Jadid, Salah, 64
Jafari, Mohammad Ali, 155
Janansefat, Mohammad Sadegh, 160
Japanese religious cult use of sarin in 1994–1995, 105
Jaysh al-Islam [Army of Islam], 95–96, 240
Jerusalem Post (newspaper), 200
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 201
Jihadists/Jihadis, 230, 240
Jobar, Syria, sarin-gas incident, 110
Johnson, Lyndon, 62
Jolani, Abu Mohammad al-, 97, 240
Jordan, 24, 26, 44, 45, 59, 62, 66, 191, 219, 225
and British, 27, 29, 31, 32, 48
rebels trained in or traveling through, 12, 17, 18, 198, 227, 230, 235
in “Six Day War” with Israel (June 1967), 192, 247
Joseph, 137
Kaddafi, Muammar, 106, 226, 229
Kafr Soueah Square in Damascus, bombing in, 91
Kafr Zeta, Syria, chemical attack on, 255
Kalandia checkpoint, 205
Karasu, Mustafa, 184
Karimi, Tahereh, 158
Kaszeta, Dan, 111
“Kathy,” 214–15, 217
KDP. See Kurdish Democratic Party
KDPS. See Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria
Keane, Jack, 222
Kennedy, Arthur, 39
Kenya as possible homeland for Jews, 34
Kerry, John, 102, 104, 113, 114–15, 227
Khalaji, Mehdi, 165
Khamenei, Sayed Ali (Supreme Leader in Iran), 148, 163, 165
Khan Al Asal, Syria, sarin attack, 109, 114, 253
Khan Al Asal (district in Aleppo), sarin attack, 106–107
Khomeini, Ruhollah (Ayatollah), 147, 148, 149
Khomeini Academy, 153–54
Khoury, Bishara al-, 56–57
kibbutzim [communes], 192
kidnappings, 88, 111, 118, 132–33, 155, 175, 187
“extraordinary rendition,” 75
King, Henry Churchill, and King-Crane Commission, 44–46
Kirkuk, Iraq, 28, 31, 55, 178, 255
Kitchener, Horatio, 30–31
KNC. See Kurdish National Council
Korotchenko, Igor, 229
Kosovo and humanitarian intervention, 14
Krak des Chevaliers [Hisn al-Akrad] (Castle of the Kurds), 169
KRG. See Kurdish Regional Government
Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), 170, 171, 186, 242
Kurdish National Council (KNC), 187, 188, 242
Kurdish People's Government (Mahabad Republic), 170–71
Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), 170, 178, 188
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS), 171
Kurdistan Workers Party [Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK)], 172–74, 187–88, 242
seen as terrorists, 174, 176
Kurds, 167–89
in Iran, 170–71
in Iraq, 177, 178–79, 180
Kurdish refugees, 167, 177, 183
Kurdish regions of Ottoman Empire, 169
list of Kurdish organizations, 242
in Syria, 167, 171–89
and Bashar al-Assad, 178, 180, 183, 184, 188, 250
controlling oil fields, 177, 178
declaring autonomy, 185–86, 189
Syrian citizenship, 21, 74, 83, 176, 179, 250
traditional Kurdish dress, 168, 174
in Turkey, 172–74, 176–77, 183–85, 187–88, 242
Kuwait, 71, 96, 218, 248
Landis, Joshua, 59–60, 111–12
Latakia, Syria, 111, 140, 199, 253, 254
Lausanne, Treaty of (1924), replacing Treaty of Sevres, 49, 169
Lawrence, T. E., 23–24, 26–27, 37–38, 39–42, 51
Lawrence of Arabia (film), 23, 25, 26–27, 30, 32, 37, 39–40
LCC. See Local Coordinating Committees
League of Nations, 47
Lebanon, 23, 24, 44, 45, 56, 57, 59, 96, 116, 124, 156, 203, 219
assassination of prime minister, 75–76
author's report from, 186
French in, 29–32, 43, 48–50, 55–57, 133, 245–46
independence in 1943, 67–68
and Iran, 146, 148–49
Israeli invasions, 67
in 1978, 68, 248
in 1982, 68, 148, 248
attempted invasion in 2006, 149
jet attacks in 2013, 253
withdrawal of troops in 2000, 69, 149
Lebanese Civil War, 67–68, 138, 140, 235, 248
refugees in, 65, 209
relig
ious groups in, 51, 53, 68, 126, 133, 136, 137, 148, 149, 152, 206, 243
and Syria, 68, 72, 76, 77, 172, 174, 206, 248, 249, 255
withdrawal of Syrian troops in 2005, 76, 249
See also Beirut, Lebanon; Hezbollah
Lechi [Stern Gang], 91
Leen, 16, 86, 120, 143, 220
Lesch, David, 78, 124
letter bomb, first use of, 91
Libya, 65, 217, 230, 248
Arab Spring and Western intervention in, 113, 207, 220, 221, 222, 226, 229
no-fly zone, 17, 220, 226, 229
and chemical weapons, 105, 106, 111
Lloyd, Richard, 104
Lloyd George, David, 35, 37, 42
Local Coordinating Committees (LCC), 85–86, 88, 89, 174, 240
author meeting with, 15–16
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 47
London Review of Books (newspaper), 103–104
Lund, Aron, 92, 98
MacMahon, Henry, 26
Mahabad Republic (Kurdish People's Government), 170–71
Mahmoud, 84–85, 120
Majdal Shams (in Golan), 193, 195–96
Makhlouf, Rami, 73, 129, 180
Maliki, Nouri al-, 97, 98, 99, 240
Maloof, F. Michael, 108
Maragha, Said Musa, 66–67
Marandi, Sayed Mohammad, 163
Marashi, Reza, 163
Marks, Simon, 33–34
Marks and Spencer (retail chain), 34
Maronite Christians, 29, 50, 67–68, 248
Martyrs of Mecca, 187
Marxism combining with pan-Arabism, 60
Maryam, 136–37
massacres, 68, 70, 96, 101–105, 110–12, 113, 141–42, 240, 248, 253, 254
Mawaleh (on-line magazine), 88
Maydan, Syria, 53
McCain, John, 95, 222
medicines, lack of in Iran because of sanctions, 159–60
Mehmed V (Ottoman sultan), 25–26
Melkite Catholic, 137
Mennagh airbase, 98, 253
Meshal, Khaled, 209
Mexican revolution of 1910, 25
Middle East Institute, 150
Mirsky, Georgi, 230
“mission creep,” 221
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (shah of Iran), 145, 171
Moqebleh Camp, 167
Morsi, Mohammed, 11, 138, 234
Mosaddegh, Mohammad, 145
Moscow Times (newspaper), 228
Mosul, Iraq, 28, 99
Mother Jones (magazine), 173
Mount Lebanon, 49
Mount Qasioun military complex, 104, 199
Mousavi, Mir Hussain, 145
Mubarak, Hosni, 11, 207, 250
Mubarakiyah, Syria, 94–95
Muhammad, Qazi, 170, 171
Mukhabarat [Military Intelligence Directorate], 90, 241
author interview with member of, 139–40
Musa, Abu, 248
Mushaweh, Omar, 18, 93, 187–88
Muslim, Saleh, 184, 185, 242
Muslim Brotherhood, 18, 54, 150, 187–88, 234
in Egypt, 11, 92, 209–210, 234, 241, 243